Hollywood wants $15 million from Pirate Bay

Hollywood wants SEK93 million (US$15.4 million) in damages for copyright infringement from the people behind The Pirate Bay, according to a claim filed by industry organization the Motion Picture Association Wednesday

Hollywood wants SEK93 million (US$15.4 million) in damages for copyright infringement from the people behind The Pirate Bay, according to a claim filed by industry organization the Motion Picture Association Wednesday

Pirate Bay is one of the most widely used BitTorrent trackers for music, movies and software.

Included in the claim are "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "The Pink Panther," "Syriana," "Walk the Line," and 13 episodes from the first season of "Prison Break."

"The Pink Panther" is the most popular title among Pirate Bay users; the least popular, by a mile, is "Syriana." They have been downloaded 49,593 and 3,679 times, respectively, according to MAQS, the law firm which represents MPA.

The damages are based on between SEK222 and SEK261 per downloaded movie, and SEK415 for every time someone had downloaded a copy of Prison Break.

The sums are not unreasonable, because the distributed files didn't include copy protection, and were made available before the release of a DVD or a legal download, according to MAQS.

Included in the final sum is also interest, which will continue to grow, and damages for the harm Pirate Bay has caused.